Final Paper:

Politics, Cultural Intersections, and Architecture in Al Andalus

Helen Meyers

HIST 3001

Dr. MacKinnon

April 21, 2016

 Medieval Spain conjures images of Catholic rule, almost dogged piety

and a desire to submit to the will of the Church. In actuality, a far more

fractured picture appears. In the 8th Century CE, what would become Spain

was a fractured collection of Visigoth territories. Struggling in a fight for

succession, disenfranchised nobles would invite help from the most unlikely

of Allies: North African Muslims. In 711 CE, these Muslim armies would cross

from Tangier and into the Iberian Peninsula, and fight and take the territory,

creating Al Andalus- an Islamic outpost that at its height would occupy most

of modern Spain and Portugal. The Umayyad caliphate would settle in

Cordoba, and culture would flourish not only there, but also in Granada for

several centuries before Muslims were expelled at the end of the Spanish

Reconquista. Despite their absence, the Muslims of Spain had left much

behind. Regardless of any animosity towards the Moors and efforts to expel

Islam from the Iberian Peninsula, the people of the region had been living

with and trading goods and ideas with Muslims for centuries. The divide

between what was Spanish and was Moorish was far more murky than it had

ever been. Blurred lines of culture and the unsteady political climate were

reflected in the architecture of Al Andalus.

The Spain that was taken over by Muslim forces had been under

Visigothic rule following the crumbling of the Roman Empire. The Visigothic

Monarchy was relatively strong until the 8th Century CE, when nobles began

to try to reach for more power by over throwing the current line of

succession. These squabbles would lead to the request for aid from the
Berbers in Morrocco. These North African Muslims, led by Tariq Ibn Ziyyad,

would cross the Strait of Gibralter from Tangier, and begin the conquest of

the Iberian Peninsula and reshape the lives of its inhabitants.1 The nobles

who had called for the assistance of Tariq and his associated armies had

hopes that he would simply leave. They stayed however, and established a

Muslim community. Syrian Muslims from the Umayyad caliphate would arrive

shortly after and install themselves as governors in regions conquered. 2 The

Umayyad Caliphate would not be the only dynasty to operate in Al Andalus,

there would be multiple power exchanges over the life of the region. The

Taifa, Almohads, and the Nasrids of Granada would all rule over and shape

the lives of their Muslim subjects. By about 1250 the governors of places like

Cordoba and Seville would be displaced and the Muslims living there would

become mudjars, Muslims living under Christian rule. The solitary Islamic

kingdom of Granada would stand until 1492. Under the orders of King

Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, Granada would be subject to siege and its

fall would bring about the end of the Reconquista. Ferdinand and Isabellas

Castilian armies would destroy Granadian crops3 and assault the city until

King Boabadil, the last Nasrid King, agreed to terms and would hand over the

keys to the city to Isabella and Ferdinand in exchange for his then captive

son.4 All Spanish Muslims became mujdars, and subject to the whims of

1 Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal (New York: Longman, 1996), 1-
7.
2 Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal, 31
3 L.P. Harvey, Islamic Spain: 1250 to 1500 (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1992), 288.
4 Harvey, Islamic Spain:1250 to 1500, p. 322
their new Christian rulers. In 1500, they would be offered a choice: convert,

and become moriscos, or be expelled from Spain.

Almost as soon as Tariq made landfall at Gibraltar, Christian Spain

began mounting its resistance to the Muslim invaders. The resistance would

take the shape of the Reconquista, a series of wars between Christian and

Muslim forces for control of territory on the Iberian Peninsula. Led by Multiple

kings from Castile-Leon, this resistance would gain papal support and occupy

much of the energy of Christian armies in Spain until being brought to a close

with the capture of Granada.5 Pope Urban would grant a crusading

indulgence in 1210, and so Alfonso X of Castiles eldest son would begin his
6
assault with holy purpose. Once Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile completed

the Reconquista in 1492, time quickly ran out for the Muslim residence of the

now completely Christian ruled Spain. In 1500, Spain would expel Muslims

and Jewish people from Spain, and Islam would no longer be tolerated openly

in Spain under the rule of the monarchy. The length of time that the process

took led to Muslim communities being under Christian rule for centuries in

areas like Seville and Cordoba, and forced the populations in these areas to

retool and work their religion in order to continue practicing in a less than

favorable environment. Muslim lawyers often were approached by members

of the community who wanted to know how they could continue to be good

practitioners of their faith in such an environment. While the culture of Al

5 Harvey, Islamic Spain, p.322

6 Innocent III, "ContemporaryTextsDescribingtheBattleofLasNavasDeTolosas."
UniversityofLeeds.2016.
Andalus was remarkably tolerant in many ways, and allowed for the

exchange of ideas between not only Christian and Muslim communities, but

Jewish communities as well, residents could not entirely escape the political

trappings that came with having a Christian ruler over a Muslim population.

The Reconquista was not an entirely cut and dry process. It took as

long as it did because along with simply retaking tracks of land, Castilian

forces also had to now manage all of the islamicized people in them, and

figure out what to do with the architecture and objects left behind. While

they have been claimed for other purposes and no longer serve the

communities of their original builders, some of Spains largest and most

familiar monuments are Muslim creations: Buildings like the Alhambra and

the Mosque at Cordoba. As Muslims came into the Iberian Peninsula, their

first goal was to settle in and put down roots. In doing so they would erect

some of the largest and most notable structures in Medieval Spain: The

Alhambra and The Mezquita at Cordoba.

The Alhambra was a palace used by the Nasrid Dynasty, a fprtress that

had been repeatedly added onto since the 9th Century.7 Additions and

expansions would not be complete until 13918. The Mosque was build by

the Umayyad Caliphate to be a central place of worship. Rather than

destroying these particular buildings upon the recapture of Cordoba and

Granada, they were all taken in a very similar fashion: The invading Christian

7 Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture: Form, Function, and Meaning.

(New York: Columbia University Press, 1994) 452.
8 Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture: Form, Function, and Meaning, 452
Armies would enter the city, gut the buildings and destroy their contents,

and then take the actual structure.

It is an entirely different matter to burn furniture and manuscripts than

it is to burn and destroy a building. Rather than throwing these buildings

away, when these respective regions that each of these buildings reside in

were taken, they were repurposed. The Alhambra would become a palace for

Castilian nobility, and the Mosque would turn into a Cathedral; in the 16th

century an altar would be inserted inside the Meszquita, creating a schism of

architectural styles; on the outside Islamic, on the inside very much Baroque.

The addition wasnt entirely welcome, Charles V of Castile is reported to have

stated They have taken something unique , and made it into something

ordinary.9 In the case of fortresses and castles, like the Alhambra and the

Genralife, there later additions in conflicting styles, and the contents of the

building were destroyed. Charles V, for all his derision over the state of the

Mezquita, would assert his own authority over the Alhambra, building a

Renaissance style castle as an addition during his reign in the 15th CE. The

Alhambra was no longer the remnant of the Nasrid Dynasty is Granada: It

was the castle and home of the ruler descended from Castile, whod

conquered Granada less than a century before. The Generalife, the complex

across from Granada that housed the famous gardens, would also be seized

and used by Castilian nobility. The seizure and usage of these buildings tied

9 Michael Greenhalgh, MarblePast,MonumentalPresent:BuildingwithAntiquitiesinthe

MediaevalMediterranean (MedievalMediterranean:Peoples,EconomiesandCultures,400
1500).(Boston:BrillAcademicPublishers,2009.)309.
directly into Granadas place as the last Muslim hold out in Spain. Considered

the crowning achievement of Ferdinand and Isabellas campaign, they would

be buried in Granada after they died. There was nothing so important in a

post conquering climate than asserting control and order. A visual reminder

of a change in order and authority could be gained by taking what was

traditionally associated with previous ruling classes.

In areas like Seville and Castile, the Christian ruling class controlled

and employed Moorish subjects. In the initial years of the occupation,

projects with Islamic influence would not be constructed. Buildings with

Islamic influence generally would only be constructed after subjected

10
populations were not a threat. Much like the reasoning behind seizing

fortresses and mosques, how projects were built and the design preferred by

patrons often was tied up in ideas of control and authority over a people

unlike themselves.

While these subjects would not be building mosques or engraving

verses from the Quran on new building projects, they brought many Islamic

building and decorative sensibilities with them to new building projects.

Traditionally Islamic design work and method would mesh together with

Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance ideas well into the 17th Century CE,

and would come to be named after the people it was associated with:

10 M. Pilar Mogolln Cano-Corts, "Manifestations of Power and Visual

Culture: Some Examples in Extremaduran Mudejar Architecture." Medieval
Encounters 12, no. 3 (November 2006): 342
 11
Mudjars. This particular style of architecture came to be in the specific

context of territories where Muslims lived under Christian rule. It was an

alternative to the rising traditions of Gothic and Romanesque architecture,

and steeped in the culture of Al Andalus.12

It is worth noting that the naming of the style didnt really occur

formally until the 19th century CE13. This could partially be attributed to

leftover animosity against the Moors, a kind of stubborn refusal to give the

group credit for their involvement in building impressive structures. Much

more likely, however, much in the same way that Christian Spain absorbed

Muslim populations, Spanish Architecture had absorbed Islamic methods of

design. It was not distinctly Moorish to its contemporaries by then: it was

simply Spanish. The Geometric designs familiar to Islam were incorporated

into woodwork, and lavish geometric wooden ceilings would be installed

even in Churches. The aim of this new style was not to create Islamic

buildings, but to reinterpret existing styles through an Islamic lens. An

example of this is the Alacazar in Seville, originally an Islamic fort

constructed in the 10th Century CE. At the time of the conquest of Seville in

the 13th century, however, it became a fortress under the control of Alfonso

X, the monarch who spent much of his energy reclaiming what he viewed to

11 DFairchildRuggles,TheAlcazarofSevilleandMudejarArchitecture.Gesta43(2).
[UniversityofChicagoPress,InternationalCenterofMedievalArt,2004],89.

12 Gonzalo M. Borrs Gualis, "Mudejar: An Alternative Architectural System

in the Castilian Urban Repopulation Model." Medieval Encounters 12, no. 3
(November 2006).331
13 Ruggles, The Alacazar of Seville and Mudejar Architecture, p. 89
be rightfully Christian lands for his kingdom of Castile-Leon. He would tack

on halls in more gothic styles to the existing structure, while at the same

time keeping the Arabic inscriptions on the walls of the building, and its

distinctive blind arches flanking entrances. Any subject visiting the Palace

would instantly recognize the origins of these features. Alfonsos use of the

Alacazar was rooted in the fact that he had seized the building in the same

way he had seized the land. One of his descendants, Pedro the Cruel,

actually supported Mohammed V of Granada. Mohammed would stay in the

Alacazar, forced from his home due to in fighting among the Nasrids. His use

of mudjar architecture wasnt rooted in a triumph over Muslim forces, and

took place at the same time as a Remodeling of the Alhambra by his old ally,

Mohammed V. Both buildings have been noted to have striking similarities to

each other, and likely influenced each other through out their renovation

processes.14

After years of living under Christian Rule, Islamic design elements

worked their way into the most unlikely of places, Churches. The Church of

Santa Cruz in Toledo would make a departure from traditional stone building

materials in the 13th century CE. The Church would be erected in Brick and

make economical use of Rubble, similarly to the Bab Al Mardum Mosque, also

in Toledo.15 Brickwork was associated with Islamic building practices, and had

managed to find a way to be useful to a diverse population that included

14 Fairchild, The Alacazar of Seville Mudejar Architecture, 92

15 David Raizman,"TheChurchofSantaCruzandtheBeginningsofMudejarArchitecture
inToledo."Gesta,1999. 29
Christians. Even after there is no longer a Moorish leader ruling over Toledo,

there was a continued tradition of building structures similarly to the Islamic

ones that were already in place.16 While the frescoes installed in Santa Cruz

and similar churches would go on to use Figures in the Frescoes painted in

them- something that would never be allowed in an Islamic context, the

effect was a blending of Christian and Islamic Sensibilities in a religious

space. The road to this blending of design was paved by a series of 11th

century alliances between Christian kings and the Islamic government in

Toledo. These alliances would lead to gradual ceding of power, eventually

leading to the entire transfer of Toledo. The General population had been

interacting for years at this point, and so the new ruling Christian

government was able to fully absorb the portions of Islamic construction that

it pleased.17 Mudjar architecture was generally not erected during initial

occupation, but after a period of time, the ruling classes began using funding

projects that would draw from the architectural heritage of the surrounding

cities. This incorporation was nothing if not fairly successful- Multiple Spanish

churches would be erected in brick, decorated with the geometric woodwork

that would characterize them. The woodwork, while not present in Toledo,

represents cooperation between Muslim and Christian Craftsman, the

culmination of a conversation on how to best express the holiness and

16 Raizman, "TheChurchofSantaCruzandtheBeginningsofMudejarArchitecturein
Toledo."129
17 Maria Rosa Menocal, TheOrnamentoftheWorld:HowMuslims,Jews,andChristians
CreatedaCultureofToleranceinMedievalSpain.(Boston:Little,BrownandCompany,2002)
135-140
beauty in a religious space. Generally the Style used brick as the main

building material, and; pottery being a striking example. Geometric

woodwork would become a hallmark of the style, and multiple cathedrals

would be contracted this way. Arabic decorative sensibilities would blend

with Hispanic building traditions to give birth to buildings

Medieval Iberia was home to multiple cultures that came into contact

and conflict with each other over several hundred years. While the

Reconquista and the later expulsion of Muslims from Spain can lead to the

idea that Christians and Muslims didnt interact and were constantly at odds

with each other, such was not the case. Whether or not these groups of

people agreed over Religious Ideology, they lived together, worked together,

and left lasting impressions on each other. While much of the tangible

evidence of this was destroyed, what survived was the buildings people were

worshipping, working, and living in. Architecture cannot be completely

removed from the political sphere. Politics directly influenced the kinds of

building projects that were undertaken in Al-Andalus. Architectural projects

served to help prove of the accomplishments of the powerful, but also

reflected the culture of the people building them and living in and around

them. The lines between Christian and Muslim citizens were increasingly

blurred in a time where they all had to share the same, limited. The way

they were built and the design employed speaks to the amount of interaction

and how much cultural exchange was really happening in Al Andalus.